Komé: Sushi Kitchen Review

Since we rarely leave the Round Rock area, I make sure to plan out lunch/dinner, coffee, and grocery pick up whenever I need to run to Austin for some kind of errand.

I had to take my mom to the Airport Blvd area recently, and we lunched at Komé: Sushi Kitchen. I'm really excited that that area has been attracting more restaurants and coffeeshops! I would've checked out Jewboy Burgers, but I knew my mom enjoys Japanese food over burgers any day.

We ordered an una tama-don and a komè bento. They both came with a delicious bowl of miso soup. For the bento, you get a choice of roll. I decided to try something I've never had before - raw squid - the ika-umè-shiso roll, which as squid, cucumber, umè, shiso. The flavor wasn't distinct, but it was pleasantly less chewy than I thought it would be and pretty refreshing! I liked the balance of the clean taste of the sashimi and the fried and crunchy chicken karaage.

komè bento

(kara-agè, agè-dashi tofu, side salad, sashimi assortment, and ika-umè-shiso roll

My mom loved her eel rice bowl. It's simple but comforting for her. Look at that juicy egg! Yum!

una tama-don
(bbq unagi, onsen egg, negi, pickled daikon, nori, fried onion)

Overall, the food was fresh and delicious, and the service was excellent! I want to come back for dinner so I can try out the grilled items that are only available for dinner. 

Miyabi 45th: Our First and Sadly Last Time Tasting Chef Mutsuko Soma's Soba

We had a fantastic date night trying out Miyabi 45th for the first time thanks to the great omakase dinner for two deal on Groupon (normally $60 Groupon but I purchased it for $46)! I had read about chef Mutsuko Soma's handmade soba since before arriving in Seattle through a plethora of articles on her journey learning the craft and on the sheer deliciousness of her food at Miyabi 45th (Food & Wine; Seattle Times; Serious Eats). Seeing how we're trying to explore Seattle frugally, it would've been difficult trying out an omakase meal here without the help of Groupon, so a big thank you to Miyabi 45th and Groupon for making this deal available for folks like us!

 Right before writing this post, I spotted the happy and sad news (Seattle Eater) that chef Mutsuko Soma will be taking maternity leave starting February 13th and changes will be in place after the restaurant reopens under the helm of their current sushi chef Masa Ishikura. Handmade soba will likely not be on the menu after the transition. It's such a tease that we got to taste these delicious artisan noodles for the first time only to have it be our last time. But of course, all the best to chef Soma with the beautiful news of a baby girl, and best of luck to chef Ishikura!

Chef Mutsuko Soma

Now on to the recap of the 5 course omakase experience!

Amuse Bouche + Five Course Omakase

It was really thoughtful that the restaurant provided a matrix of want/don't want dinner items for you to check or cross off to customize your 5 course meal. Everything else is left up to the chef's discretion. I would normally welcome raw dishes at a Japanese restaurant but it was an especially chilly evening so we opted to check off on "adventurous" but crossed off "raw".

Omakase Customization

The meal started off with shots of puréed butternut squash in a dashi broth. This amuse bouche was warm and creamy - a cozy welcome on a cold day!

Amuse Bouche - Butternut Squash Soup

Next came the foie gras "tofu" with red grapes and an adorable pyramid of wasabi in a dashi broth. The foie gras was blended and formed to take on the appearance and texture of silken tofu. It was absolutely luscious, but Mike noted that this would go nicely with some crackers, rice, or crusty bread to cut the richness. I was very impressed by my non-foodie husband's astute observation! He may have to take over some posts on my blog!

Foie Gras "Tofu"

The next dish was grilled salmon kama (collar) with a refreshing salad. I was hoping that we would have some kind of kama dish because it has always been a favorite hot dish of mine at Japanese restaurants. The kama was smokey and buttery, which paired nicely with the crunchy chilled salad.

Salmon Kama

That was followed by chawanmushi (savory egg custard) with snow crab, fish cake, ginko seed, and matsutake mushrooms. This is another classic hot Japanese dish that I adored as a kid before I developed a palate for raw fish. It's really fun to eat because it's like digging for treasures. The matsutake was very juicy and was the best surprise in the pool of silky egg.

Chawanmushi

The most impressive dish was new to me - braised pork belly and toasted daikon (Asian radish) mochi. I've had many amazing Chinese braised pork dishes before, but I've never had one that's paired with daikon mochi! I've never even heard of daikon mochi before! The mochi texture mimicked the chewy gelatinous texture of the pork belly fat so when you eat it with a bite of just the pork belly meat, it's as if you're eating a healthier version of the whole pork belly! Some people like eating the fat and the meat, but that's too rich for me, so substituting the fat with the mochi was genius! I wish I had more mochi to sop up the addictive sauce!

Braised Pork Belly with Toasted Daikon Mochi

The final dish was the obligatory handmade soba. It's what made this restaurant famous and successful within just three years. The bowl of hot soba had the strong fragrance of buckwheat and the texture of the noodles withstood the heat of the broth. Dried manufactured soba noodles tend to loose its buckwheat aroma and go limp  under sustained heat. As we enjoyed our bowls of chef Soma's hard work, we both realized how much we love our new city. A city that gives us the opportunity to enjoy the diverse talents and innovation of others.

Ebi Ten Soba

As irreplaceable as the handmade soba noodles are, all of the dishes leading up to this final one is a testament to how talented the entire culinary team at Miyabi 45th is. Something tells me that the restaurant can still be successful even with the possible absence of soba in the future.

Tucson, AZ: Sushi in the Desert?

The job that brought me to Madison entailed traveling to different customer sites in the U.S.  The two sites that I was assigned were Tucson, AZ and St. Louis, MO.  I count myself as lucky in that both cities have a wealth of culture, diversity, and amazing food. 

 

I had never been to Arizona before I started working with the client in Tucson, so I was extremely excited.  When I landed in Tucson for the first time, I embraced the flat roads in the city and the high, dry mountains rising all around.  Everywhere you looked, there were mountains, giant cacti, and blue sky.

 

 

My Mom in Awe of the Cacti

Seeing how nice and dry this place is, it makes total sense that my mom asked to eat at a sushi restaurant for dinner when she came to visit me over the weekend.  I told her that she was crazy, but she pointed to an ad in the hotel's "places to see" magazine that featured a picture of a sushi boat.  My mom countered my protests by reasoning, "See! There's a sushi place!  Why would any business owner willingly shoot himself in the foot and open a sushi restaurant that's bound to fail?  It must be good!"

 

I gave in.  I think it's because Madison doesn't have many options for sushi, and I hoped that my mom was right so that I would have a go-to sushi place when I'm in Tucson.

 

Ginza Sushi is the name of the restaurant that I thought would give me inauthentic offerings drenched in super sweet teriyaki sauce at best and unfresh fish at worst. 

 

Ginza Sushi (5425 N. Kolb Rd.)

 

 

Boy was I wrong! Just look at the gorgeous Ginza Chirashi.  Yes, I made the photo extra large for your viewing pleasure.

 Ginza Chirashi - Uni (sea urchin), Toro (fatty tuna), Amaebi (sweet shrimp), Tako (octopus), Sake (salmon), Ikura (salmon roe), Hamachi (yellow tail), Akagai (red clam), and Hotatagai (scallop) over rice

 

Something as simple as raw seafood on a bed of well made Japanese rice can taste this good because it's fresh!  The ingredients aren't hiding under globs of sauce or fancy accoutrements.  My favorite part is allocating the fish roe so that I could pop at least one in my mouth with each bite of rice and seafood.  Mommy's right...sigh.

 

Mom and I also shared teppan squid with ginger sauce and hamachi kama, which were both delicious.  The squid was tender and smokey.  Mom and I order grilled squid dishes at Japanese restaurants for nostalgic reasons.  Growing up in Honolulu, my parents would always take my brother and me to Shirokya on the weekends and have lunch at their cafeteria.  My mom and I always craved their squid.  After we left Hawaii, grilled Japanese squid just wasn't as easy to find...until I found myself in the desert...

 

Hamachi Kama is a family favorite as well.  If it's on the menu, we have to have it.  The collar is particularly flavorful and flakey.  It's usually just seasoned lightly with salt and served with a side a ponzu.  Again, simple but the natural flavor of fresh ingredients makes it amazing!

 

Teppan Squid and Hamachi Kama (broiled yellow tail collar)

Needless to say, I revisited Ginza on subsequent work trips to de-stress:

Agedashi Tofu

Nabeyaki Udon

  

Yuzu Miso Halibut

Spider Roll

 

Here are photos of my last meal in Tucson with my co-workers.  What a great way to say goodbye to a great city!:

 

I can't remember all the different Ginza Special Rolls...

Izakaya - Chicken Karaage, Agedashi Tofu, and Seafood Dynamite

 

Green Tea and Red Bean Mochi Ice Cream

Green Tea Cheesecake and Tempura Apples

 

Awesome Co-Workers

Went to Dallas and Visited Sushi Robata Yet Again

Right after my last day of classes, I rushed to Dallas to hang out with my brother.  I'm going to miss us being in the same state!  :-(  Who am I going to share a dish of chicken hearts with?  

Well, we did just that at Sushi Robata (my 3rd time!).  My brother's friends either ordered sushi plates or very filling dinner entrees. However, bro and I focused on just appetizers to diversify our dining experience.

You can't go to Sushi Robata without ordering the Asari Sakamushi (baby clams steamed in sake), Agedashi Tofu, and Hamachi Kama.  These three dishes are the best versions I've had anywhere outside of Japan (I've never been, sadly).  Other dishes are delicious as always (check out more dishes here and here)!

Asari Sakamushi

Agedashi Tofu

Soft-shell Crab Karaage

Hatsu - Grilled Chicken Hearts

Gindara Kasuzuke - Sake Cod

Chawanmushi - Japanese Egg Custard

Chawanmushi - Japanese Egg Custard

Hamachi Kama

Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream

My brother views food in a very utilitarian way, but even he exclaimed that the meal was delectable!  Believe me.  That means more than any compliments I bestow on a restaurant.

Ryu of Japan on Mom's Birthday

Mom and I celebrated her birthday at Ryu of Japan after reading an awesome review by Boots in the Oven.  My parents' favorite cuisine is Japanese.  Dad can't get enough of sashimi and sukiyaki while mom can't do without hamachi kama.

We decided to skip ordering dinner entrees altogether in favor of several courses of appetizers.

We began with a small dish of monkfish liver, which unsurprisingly has a texture similar to foie gras but on the drier side.  It was quite delicious but I kept wishing I could pair each bite with a carb like rice or baguette!

Ankimo (monkfish liver)

The Ryu Special was basically a trio of sashimi (tuna, salmon, and yellowtail) rolled up in cucumber.  This was light and summery, delicious but hard to keep intact.

Ryu's Special - salmon, yellowtail, and tuna sashimi wrapped in cucumber with shiso and roe

Agedashi tofu is as standard as udon at Japanese restaurants but Ryu's is heavenly.  The broth that the fried pieces of tofu was soaking in really made this dish sing.

Agedashi Tofu

I was a bit underwhelmed by the ginger eggplant.  It was good, but a little bland even with the lovely curling bonito shavings.

Nasu No Shogayaki - ginger eggplant with bonito shavings

Mom and I always reminisce about the whole grilled squid served at the cafeteria in the Japanese department store, Shirokiya, in Honolulu.  I grew up scarfing down Shirokiya's smokey ikayaki.  We were super excited to see ikayaki on Ryu's menu, but this version just can't compare to Shirokiya's.  It's a bit tough and although it's grilled, Ryu's ika doesn't have that intense smokiness present in Shirokiya's version.

Ikayaki - grilled squid

No Japanese meal is complete without hamachi kama for my mom.  This was simply prepared with a sprinkle of salt and grilled.  This dish never falters.

Hamachi Kama - yellowtail collar

The next few dishes were fillers for the meal.  The trio of sashimi were fresh, the spider roll was a bit heavy on the eel sauce but otherwise quite satisfying, and the hotate hokkai was my one regret.  Instead of whole scallops, we got scallop bits that were indiscernible among the bigger chunks of chopped krab and smothered in spicy mayo.  It was a wreck.

Salmon, Tuna, and Yellowtail Sashimi

Spider Roll

Hotate Hokkai - broiled scallops with roe and mayo

But rather than leave you with a bad impression, the overall meal was delicious and affordable.  I've complained about how I can't seem to find a traditional Japanese restaurant that doesn't break the bank in Austin, and Ryu has given me a reason to stop whining.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Austin Restaurant Week Spring 2011: Uchi

When I attended the "Uchi, The Cookbook" signing party a couple of months ago, I was overjoyed to score a $25 gift card when I purchased a signed copy of Chef Tyson Cole's book!  What better way to use it than during Austin Restaurant Week! 

Austin Restaurant Week Prix Fixe Menu and Sake Social Menu!

I made early dinner reservations because I wanted to be able to get home early to do a boat load of school work.  This turned out to be another great deal because knowing how I can never be satisfied with just 3 dishes at Uchi or Uchiko (see the ridiculous amounts of food consumed during Sake Social and Austin Restaurant Week Fall 2010 at Uchiko and 2008 Chef's Tasting at Uchi), I'm bound to exceed the prim and proper 3 course meal.  I unabashedly added 4 sake social hour dishes to 3 orders of the Austin Restaurant Week prix fixe dinner so that our party of 3 shared 13 dishes.  Yes...3 courses just turned into 13 courses.  I have no self-control.  I got an inkling that this was a wee bit insane when the waiter thought that we wanted to share one order of the prix fixe menu in addition to the sake social dishes.  Nope.  That's not how I roll.

Even with all this food, the bill came out to be a 1/6 the amount I paid for the chef's tasting for a party of 4 back in 2008.  An aweome bargain!  And yet we managed to eat a feast that Louis the XIV would undoubtedly envy.

Zero Sen - yellowtail, avocado, shallot, yuzu, golden roe, cilantro 

Sakana Carpaccio - sliced daily selection of fish, citrus, olive oil 

We started off with the Zero Sen Roll with a sweet and spicy tamarind sauce and the Sakana Carpaccio. Although I've never had the Zero Sen Roll, it tasted familiar and comforting, but did not have the "wow" factor of other makimonos I've had at Uchi, like the Pitchfork (wagyu beef, avocado, caviar, leek crisp) or the Toledo Makimono (big eye tuna, chorizo, fried almonds, grilled garlic) at Uchiko. On the otherhand, I don't think every dish at Uchi has to have a "wow" factor to be considered a great dish. The quality of the ingredients and execution of the dish matter even more than creativity, and I think this is what makes Uchi so consistent. The Sakana Carpaccio was a simple and elegant dish.  The flavor is crisp, cool, and clean.  It's the perfect way to wake up your appetite.

Walu Walu - oak-grilled escolar, candied citrus, yuzupon, myoga 

The next dish was astonishingly amazing.  This teensy weensy, humble-looking "main course" was impeccably cooked.  The escolar was super crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside.  I loved how the super citrusy yuzupon was used instead of regular soy sauce.  This was my absolute favorite of the evening.

Hamachi Baby Yellowtail, (I forgot the type of fish of the sushi in the middle), and the Hotate Spicy Scallop with Avocado

The be-lated first course (trio of sushi)  from the Austin Restaurant Week menu came after the luscious grilled escolar.  Fresh and simple, but it's too bad that this dish isn't conducive to sharing.

Hama Chili - yellowtail sashimi, thai chili, orange

Machi Cure - maplewood-smoked hamachi, yucca, asian pear, marcona almonds, white soy

Next up were the Hama Chili and the Machi Cure from the Sake Social Menu, which turned out to be a great pairing of yellowtail sashimi, one tangy and spicy and the other smokey, crunchy, nutty, and sweet.  I noticed that Uchi is partial to using yellowtail.  I think 6 of the 13 dishes that we ordered had yellowtail!  No complaints here, just an observation.  Well, I guess it's a great occurrence because I just learned from Sushi Encyclopedia that yellowtail is considered a luxury fish!

Bacon Steakie - pork belly, watermelon radish, citrus, thai basil

I had a version of Uchi's Bacon Steakie (twice baked kurobuta pork belly with green apple onion salad and Indonesian soy sauce) in the past, and thus thought that it would be the same.  The one I had in 2008 was sweet and caramel-ish.  Surprise, surprise!  This one is baked or fried to a flavorful crunch on the exterior, and the heavier preparation is countered the flavors of citrus and Thai basil.  I'll take either version anyday. 

Uchiviche - salmon, striped bass, yellow bell pepper, tomato, cilantro 

We never had the Uchiviche, which appears to be a staple dish at Uchi, so we went ahead and ordered it from the Sake Social menu.  This was delicious, but I preferred the complexity of the Machi Cure or the clean taste of the Sakana Carpaccio or Hama Chile.  The salmon had a rich, buttery texture as opposed to the sleek Sakana Carpaccio and Hama Chile.

Hamachi Nabe - baby yellowtail, koshi hikari rice, farm egg, soy broth 

The Hamachi Nabe smelled divine even from afar.  I was taking deep breaths to savor the aroma until the last spoonful of rice.

Shag Roll - salmon, sun-dried tomato, avocado, squid ink sumiso 

Craving one more rice dish, we squeezed in one last savory dish, the Shag Roll, from the Sake Social menu.  This was a popular move because our server was balancing 4 wooden planks of Shag Rolls when he set our order on the table.  This is fried makimono done right!  The batter was thin and crunchy rather than bready, soggy, and chewy at the majority of other establishments.  Forget the nasty "Dynamite Rolls" out there.

Jizake Crème Caramel with brown butter sorbet, ginger consommé

Lemon Gelato with pistachios, white balsamic, golden beet 

Coffee Panna Cotta with mango ‘yolk,’ white chocolate sorbet

Ah, dessert.  Uchi's pastry chef, Philip Speer, is a genius.  His creations never taste or look like their names or menu descriptions.  It's always a gastronomic surprise and delight.  I enjoy the guessing game before the dessert arrives in trying to picture how it will be plated, and I relish in the twists and turns of flavors.  We are so complacent about our dessert expectations - desserts are sweet, duh!  Well, I get a wake-up call everytime I taste the desserts here.  There's always some other flavor that balances out the sweet.  The most prominent example is the Coffee Panna Cotta, which is accented with an earthy chocolate and coffee "soil" that is speckled with something that tastes savory.

The lemon gelato was my favorite but is perhaps the more straightforward dish.  I was able to pick up the subtle sweetness of the beet from the glace, but I would've liked to taste more of the golden beet coulis. 

The most impressive dessert dish we had that evening was the Jizake Creme Caramel.  The brown butter sorbet floored us.  It really tastes 100% like brown butter!  On top of the tremendous deliciousness of the sorbet that was sitting on top of some crushed and toasted almonds, the server poured over it ginger consommé.  While cooing over the sorbet, we almost forgot about the star of this dish, the creme caramel!  When we finally got to it, we were treated to one of the smoothest creme caramel (or of anything in the flan category). 

I can't wait to come back for my graduation dinner!